308 vessels! Chinese shipowners topped the newbuild market for 4 consecutive years

2023-02-06 09:00

Although global new ship orders decreased overall in 2022, China's shipowners secured the top spot in global new shipbuilding orders for the fourth consecutive year, driven by record-high orders for LNG carriers and car carriers. Chinese shipyards also emerged as the biggest winners in the new shipbuilding market last year, capturing nearly 50% of the market share.

Clarksons' latest report states that Chinese shipowners have long maintained a dominant position in the new shipbuilding market. In 2022, Chinese shipowners ordered a total of 308 new vessels (12.8 million GT, 7.7 million CGT, 14.9 million DWT). Although the total order volume decreased by 30% year-on-year in terms of GT due to the overall decline in global new ship orders, it still significantly outpaced Japan (10.5 million GT) and Greece (6.1 million GT), maintaining the largest share (18%) for the fourth consecutive year.

It is worth mentioning that the total investment in new shipbuilding by Chinese shipowners in 2022 was estimated at US\$18.4 billion, with only a 2% year-on-year decrease, reflecting the increase in new shipbuilding prices and the shift in vessel types and fuel technology combinations.

Clarksons points out that in the past, Chinese shipbuilders' orders mainly consisted of bulk carriers and tankers. In the 10 years before the pandemic, these two vessel types accounted for 72% of Chinese shipowners' orders (by GT). In recent years, however, the types of vessels ordered by Chinese shipowners have become increasingly diversified. In 2022, the proportion of bulk carriers and tankers dropped to a low of only 26%. On the other hand, Chinese shipowners played a significant role in the unprecedented surge in LNG carrier orders last year, ordering 29 LNG carriers (3.1 million GT, 4.9 million cubic meters) in 2022, accounting for 24% of their total orders and exceeding the total number of LNG carriers ordered in the previous 10 years.

Meanwhile, against the backdrop of surging Chinese car exports and tight vessel supply, orders for car carriers from Chinese shipowners have also increased significantly. In 2022, Chinese shipowners (including some automakers) ordered a total of 20 car carriers (1.1 million GT, 150,000 car slots), exceeding the total number of car carriers ordered by Chinese shipowners before 2022. In terms of GT, car carriers accounted for 8% of the total orders from Chinese shipowners last year.

On the other hand, container ships remained the most ordered vessel type by Chinese shipowners last year, with a total order volume of 3.9 million GT, accounting for 30% of their total orders. However, due to the overall downturn in the container shipping market, orders for container ships from Chinese shipowners decreased by 50% year-on-year.

Data shows that the number of alternative fuel vessels ordered by Chinese shipowners last year increased significantly, reaching 75 vessels with a total tonnage of 7.3 million GT, accounting for 57% of the total orders, far exceeding the 5% in 2021. This is consistent with the global new ship order proportion of 61% being alternative fuel vessels. Of these, 33% were LNG-powered vessels, including all LNG carriers and car carriers; 24% of the vessels could use other alternative fuels, including 12 24,000 TEU methanol-powered ultra-large container ships ordered by COSCO Shipping.

From the perspective of shipyard order intake, Chinese shipbuilders were also the biggest winners in the new shipbuilding market last year. According to Clarksons' statistics, global new ship orders totaled 1,384 vessels with 42.78 million CGT last year, of which Chinese shipyards received orders for 728 vessels with 20.8 million CGT, accounting for 49%, a decrease of 21% compared to 26.2 million CGT in 2021; South Korea ranked second with 289 vessels and 16.3 million CGT, accounting for 38%, a decrease of 9% compared to 17.9 million CGT in 2021.

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